The overall objective of this ICBG is to stimulate biodiversity conservation in Suriname by demonstrating the value of biodiversity to Suriname and the Surinamese people. This will be done both by developing potential medicinal agents from Surinamese flora and by a program of educational and extension activities in Suriname. License fees and royalties from compounds selected for development will be returned in part to Suriname for distribution to the Surinamese people. Plants will be collected in Suriname by the Missouri Botanical Garden, working in collaboration with the National Herbarium of Suriname. Ethnobotanical, conservation, educational, and extension activities will be carried out by Conservation International, in collaboration with Conservation International-Suriname. Collected plants will be extracted by Bedriff Geneesmiddelen Voorziening Suriname (BGVS), and extracts will be shipped to Bristol-Myers Squibb Research Institute (BMS) for bioassay. Active extracts will then be fractionated at BGVS, BMS, or at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, depending on the nature of the bioactivity. Active compounds will be patented and then subjected to further biological testing at BMS. Those selected for development will be licensed to BMS, with a pre-arranged division of fees and royalties between the inventors and Suriname.